A 13-centimetre leak has sprung up on the north facing wall of Shelly beach pool at South Cronulla, threatening its viability with swimmers.
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The water level was a good 40 centimetres below the wall ledge on Tuesday and old-time residents and swimmers said they had never before seen it this low.
"It is draining out, just like a bathtub," said one resident.
"When the tide goes out you can actually see the water just escaping through this hole and if it's not fixed, this great pool will be useless as a swimming destination."
The pool is the "home" of Brass Monkeys Swimming Club, which boasts that at least one member has swam in the pool every day since the club's inception in 1968.
A member said "that record is in jeopardy if the water level drops any further. I've never seen it this shallow in my 40 years of coming here to swim".
Members from the larger Cronulla RSL Swimming Club occasionally train at the pool and in summer thousands of people take to the pool, which aerial photos show dates back to the early 1940s.
The pool, along with those at South Cronulla and Oak Park, have become iconic points of interest along the Cronulla coastline.
So when Sutherland Shire Council was made aware of the growing hole on Tuesday afternoon, it moved swiftly.
"We are aware of the problem at the Shelly beach pool — it is leaking," a council worker said.
"The complex has its own outlet on the north side of the pool but it is damaged. We don't know how, we just know that it is.
"So we are going to have it fixed within the next week, hopefully.
"We are confident we can stop the leakage."
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